The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2 eBook

-Sanjaya said, ’After that army had (thus) been
routed, and Arjuna and Bhimasena had all gone after
the ruler of the Sindhus, thy son (Duryodhana) proceeded
towards Drona. And Duryodhana went to the preceptor,
on his single car, thinking, by the way, of diverse
duties. That car of thy son, endued with the
speed of the wind or thought, proceeded with great
celerity towards Drona. With eyes red in wrath,
thy son addressed the preceptor and said, ’O
grinder of foes, Arjuna and Bhimasena, and unvanquished
Satyaki, and many mighty car-warriors, defeating all
our troops, have succeeded in approaching the ruler
of the Sindhus. Indeed, those mighty car-warriors,
who vanquished all the troops, themselves unvanquished,
are fighting even there. O giver of honours,
how hast thou been transgressed by both Satyaki and
Bhima? O foremost of Brahmanas, this thy defeat
at the hands of Satwata, of Arjuna, and of Bhimasena,
is like the drying of the ocean, exceedingly wonderful
in this world. People are loudly asking, ’How,
indeed, could Drona, that master of the science of
arms, be vanquished?’ Even thus all the warriors
are speaking in depreciation of thee. Destruction
is certain for my luckless self in battle, when three
car-warriors, O tiger among men, have if, succession
transgressed thee. When, however, all this hath
happened, tell us what thou hast to say on the business
that awaits us. What hath happened, is past.
O giver of honours, think now of what is remaining.
Say quickly what should next be done for the ruler
of the Sindhus on the present occasion, and let what
thou sayest be quickly and properly carried out.’

“Drona said, ’Listen, O great king, to
what I, having reflected much, say unto thee about
what should now be done. As yet only three great
car-warriors among the Pandavas have transgressed us.
We have as much to fear behind those three as we have
to dread before them.[154] There, however, where Krishna
and Dhananjaya are, our fear must be greater.
The Bharata army hath been attacked both on the front
and from behind. In this pass, I think, the protection
of the ruler of the Sindhus is our first duty.
Jayadratha, afraid of Dhananjaya, deserves of everything
else to be protected by us. The heroic Yuyudhana
and Vrikodara have both gone against the ruler of
the Sindhus. All this that hath come is the fruit
of that match at dice conceived by Sakuni’s
intellect. Neither victory nor defeat took place
in the (gaming) assembly. Now that we are engaged
in this sport, there will be victory or defeat.
Those innocent things with which Sakuni had formerly
played in the Kuru assembly and which he regarded
as dice, were, in reality, invincible shafts.
Truly, there where, O sire, the Kauravas were congregated,
they were not dice but terrible arrows capable of
mangling your bodies. At present, however, O
king, know the combatants for players, these shafts
for dice, and the ruler of the Sindhus, without doubt,
O monarch, as the stake, in this game of battle.